When it comes to achieving your fitness goals, your life outside the gym can have a much greater impact than you would think. In fact, by using N.E.A.T to your advantage, you can drastically improve your results!

What is N.E.A.T?

N.E.A.T refers to Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. Or, to put it simply, any activity that is not structured exercise. For example, walking, standing, and lifting a box off the floor are all considered to be N.E.A.T. The first important point to note, is that N.E.A.T can contribute to up to half of your total calories burned in a day. The second point is that you have the power to change your N.E.A.T if you’re smart about it.

Who is this useful for?

Virtually anyone with a specific training goal can improve their results using N.E.A.T. Once you have your training and your diet in a good place, then you can also start to implement small changes in your everyday life and change your N.E.A.T.

Weight Loss

If you want to lose weight, then increasing your N.E.A.T is an excellent addition to your gym routine. To lose weight you must expend more calories than you consume. Training in the gym is very effective for achieving weight loss but being active outside the gym can complement this.

Weight Gain

Those of you trying to gain weight should pay attention too. To gain weight you must consume more calories than you use. If you suddenly become more active outside the gym, make sure that you eat more to account for this. If you don’t, a sudden change in your activity level can lead to unwanted weight loss.

How Can I Increase N.E.A.T?

Increasing your N.E.A.T doesn’t need to be difficult. You don’t need to turn into the energiser bunny overnight. You can break it down into a 3-step process.

Step 1: Observe

If you want to increase your levels of activity, then you must find out your current levels of activity. Spend a few days taking notice of how much you walk, stand, lift stuff, and do any other form of activity. Also see if you tend to lean or sit on things, when you could stand instead.

Step 2: Plan

Take notice of opportunities to increase N.E.A.T. Could you have walked to the shop that day? Are you able to take a short walk on your lunch break? Can you stand up instead of sitting down? And most importantly, can you take the stairs instead of the elevator? Taking the stairs is always a great place to start. If you always take the stairs, you’ll drastically increase your N.E.A.T.

Step 3: Implement

Put your plan into action and stick with it for at least 4-6 weeks. Weight loss takes time. Use these tips to speed up the process!